Angled Variable-Thickness Golf Club Face for CT Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf club heads exhibit inconsistent ball flight characteristics due to discrepancies in characteristic time (CT) across the face plate, necessitating a solution that maintains flexibility and consistency while adhering to USGA conformance limits.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head with a variable face thickness (VFT) profile, featuring a central region with increased thickness and a peripheral region with reduced thickness, angled to normalize CT values across the face plate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the face plate thickness is increased to ensure high CT regions remain below the USGA limit, then the CT in regions with inherently low CT decreases further, but this creates large variation in CT values across the face plate surface and results in inconsistent ball flight
Solution Approach 1:
The face plate employs variable thickness design where different regions have different thicknesses. Specifically, the thickness is increased in regions with inherently low CT (such as near the hosel and perimeter areas) to raise their CT values, while maintaining appropriate thickness in regions with inherently high CT. This local differentiation allows the face plate to achieve consistent CT values across all impact zones while ensuring compliance with USGA limits.
2Reliability
If the face plate is made thicker to maintain CT within USGA limits, then overall flexibility is reduced, but this compromises the spring-like effect and energy transfer to the golf ball
Solution Approach 1:
The face plate uses variable thickness to provide different levels of flexibility in different regions. Areas requiring higher flexibility (such as the center region for optimal ball strike) maintain thinner profiles, while regions needing CT enhancement (such as perimeter and hosel areas) have increased thickness. This localized approach ensures the face plate achieves USGA compliance without unnecessarily reducing overall flexibility and energy transfer characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the thickness parameter of the face plate in a controlled manner across different regions. By varying the thickness parameter from thinner in the center to thicker at the periphery and near the hosel, the design optimizes both CT compliance and flexibility. This parameter variation allows the face plate to meet USGA requirements while preserving the spring-like effect needed for effective energy transfer to the golf ball.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a golf club heads having a body portion and a face portion, wherein the face portion comprises a variable thickness profile disposed at an angle on the rear surface of the face plate.